While incarcerated at HMP Styal in Cheshire, Rachel Tunstill passed away. Because she cut her newborn baby with a pair of scissors, she received a life sentence with a minimum of 17 years.
A mother who k*lled her newborn baby girl with scissors and left her in a kitchen bin has pas-sed away in prison.
The second of Rachel Tunstill’s two life sentences for murd8ering her daughter Mia Kelly was handed down in 2019. On August 1, the Prison Service announced the death of Tunstill, a prisoner at HMP Styal in Cheshire.
“HMP Styal prisoner Rachel Tunstill died in custody on August 1, 2023,” a spokesperson said. As is customary for all deaths while in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will conduct an investigation. Her death’s precise circumstances are currently unknown.
Tunstill was initially found guilty of m-urder in June 2017, but the Court of Appeal overturned her conviction a year later because they thought lesser charges ought to have been taken into account. In February 2019, she underwent a retrial and was once more found guilty of mu-rder. She was given a life sentence with a minimum of 17 years in prison.
In January 2017, Rachel Tunstill gave birth to a girl in the next room while her boyfriend, who was oblivious to what was happening, was playing video games. She lied to her partner by saying she was having a miscarriage rather than asking for assistance or caring for the baby. Tragically, she requested scissors from him and used them to stab the newborn 14 times right away, inflicting fatal injuries to her back, neck, and chest in the process.
Judge Mr. Justice King expressed his shock and dismay at the brutality of the attack during sentencing. He claimed that the victim was especially vulnerable because she was a helpless newborn and that she should have been held and comforted by her mother instead of being subjected to such violence. In addition to killing her infant, Tunstill also attempted to cover up the crime by concealing the body, albeit only briefly, and disposing of it in an impolite manner.
This k*lling’s circumstances were said to be extremely upsetting. Despite having earned a master’s degree in forensic psychology from a university, it may never be known why Tunstill committed such a terrible act. After stabbing her child, the mother put the body in a plastic bag, then another, and finally threw it in the kitchen trash. She shockingly showed no emotion or regret for her actions, and she spent the evening watching television as if nothing had happened while her partner kept playing Xbaox.
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is expected to investigate the matter further, but this horrifying event serves as a reminder of the devastating consequences that can result from such unthinkable acts of violence.
